Enough
by ifwednesdaywasaflowerchild
Summary: After a fight with Isaac leaves him angry, Cassie helps calm Jacob down.


"-I'm sorry, I'm not good enough!" Jacob Stone's anger reverberates through the kitchen and if she closes her eyes, Cassandra Cillian can visualize the sound waves bouncing, ricocheting off of some surfaces, absorbed by others. "I'm sorry, I'm such an idiot, you can't stand even one phone call every few years!"

Whatever Isaac's response to that is, is enough to have Jake almost vibrating with rage. Dilated pupils, red face, that one neck vein throbbing, and even his nostrils flare - it's hard to work him up to this point, but she supposes if anyone can do it, it'd be his father. If you ask Cassie, Isaac is an idiot, who wouldn't recognize Jake's brilliance, if it was laid out in undeniable evidence in front of him. Fact is, if it doesn't have a dollar sign attached, it's useless to the elder Stone and as much as it annoys Cassie that he would reject his own son, Jake long ago resigned to never truly being a part of the Stone family, despite wearing the name.

"Look, Isaac - hell no, I'm not calling you a damn title you don't deserve!" he's practically roaring into the phone, free hand clenching and unclenching repeatedly at his side. "I called Ma to wish her a Happy Birthday. I didn't call to get into this with you! I'm not comin' home, I don't want the family business. Give it to Susannah, she wants it! Well, then, I guess you destroyed the only child left. You already ruined Luke, you're battin' oh-for-three, then, aren't you?"

Cassie looks up from her math equations, tilting her head curiously at her boyfriend. She knew Jake probably had siblings - he spoke of nieces and nephews - but she'd never heard names or anything that tied him familially to another person.

"Look, you sorry son of a bitch." Jake's voice drops, low and dangerous, something rarely heard. Actually, she's never heard him speak this way, before. "Do me a favor, never speak to me, again. I'll talk to Ma, I'll talk to Susie or Luke, but not you. Never you. I'll call Ma in a couple of days. As for you, you can rot in hell, I'm sure that's where you're headed."

His phone is tossed carelessly onto the table and he stalks off to the window above the sink. He leans against the counter, fingers curling in a white-knuckled grip, around the edge. His entire body is taut, muscles tense, and his eyes focus on whatever's outside the window. He doesn't want her to see the tears in his eyes. Doesn't want her to know how easy it is for his father to get to him, to make him want to scream and cry like a child not getting their way. Isaac Stone knew his son's every button and Jake'll be damned if the Stone patriarch didn't slam his fist on them every chance he got.

Her math equations can wait.

Capping her highlighter, Cassie tosses it into her bag, and slips out of her chair. He's pulled taut, like piano wire, knuckles white, and face pinched in anger. She wraps her arms around waist, pulling his shirt up until she can get her hands underneath it. Jake huffs when her hands settle on his stomach but she doesn't back off. She presses her face into that dip between his shoulder blades and kisses it repeatedly. She strings kisses along his shoulders, leaving faint traces of pink wax on his black shirt from her lipstick.

"I know you won't talk, right now." Cassie mumbles against his t-shirt. "But I'm still here."

"I know, baby." his bottom lip trembles violently. "I'm just...tired."

"He's not worth it, Jacob." she reminds him gently. "He's so blind."

Oh, how Jacob wishes he believed that. Really. It'd make rejection an easy pill to swallow, but the truth is, his father isn't blind. Isaac knows what he has - knows what his son is, sees the brilliance, catching glimpses when Jake worked as a surveyor, when he helped run the company that he's never wanted.

He poured his heart and soul into that company, something that his father had no intention of ever giving to him, because he thought - falsely, he sees now - he could earn Isaac's approval. But, his father would never approve. Between the three children, Isaac never approved of anything, they ever did.

It's why Lucas married soon after his discharge from the military and Susannah moved to D.C. to be with her senator husband. It's why Jacob left home with no intention of ever returning for reasons unrelated to his mother or his siblings. Why he created so many false identities, why he still has trouble using his given name. Why he resents even wearing the Stone name.

But, it was the Stone name that brought him to the Library. It was that name that got the attention of Ray, not Oliver or any of his other identities. It was Jacob Stone.

"I just -" Jacob looks down, chin still trembling. "All I ever did was try and prove to him that I'm good enough and nothing was ever enough."

"Jacob," Cassie feels tears sting her own eyes. "Stop it. You're just torturing yourself."

"He didn't love me." he rips away from her, raking both hands through his hair. He yanks on it hard enough, it looks as though it may come out in his hands. "He didn't even like me. He never wanted me. Or Luke or Susie. He didn't want us."

"Jake -"

"It hurts, Cassie." Jake bangs his clenched fists again the fridge. "It hurts!"

"I know." And, god, does she want to cry. For him, for not knowing what he needs, how to comfort him. She's never really seen Jake like this. Usually when he felt something too strongly, his idea of a solution was drinking. "I know it hurts."

"Why haven't I ever been enough?" he just seems so...broken, sad, and she wants to gather him up. Hold him and protect him from the world and from a father hell-bent on breaking his son. "What did I do, Cass? Why wasn't I enough?"

"Hey!" Cassie is sharp, but still tender - he needs a friend, not a reprimand. "You listen to me, now, Jacob Stone. You are enough." she may be slight but she knows enough about force ratio to pin him without worrying about him trying to escape her hold. "You are more than enough! If that pitiful excuse for a man can't see it, then that's his fault. But, I will not let him break you." Jake refuses to look at her, but that's okay, she doesn't need him to. She just needs him to listen. "He's not worth this, Jacob. He's not. He can rot in hell, but I refuse to let him take you down with him. I refuse to lose my best friend because Isaac Stone is a bastard."

"I just miss my family." Jake whispers, finally making direct eye contact. "I miss my Mom and my baby sister and my big brother. I miss them so goddamn much."

"I know." she palms either side of his face, threading her fingers in his hair, and thumbing the tears from his cheeks. "I know."

Normally, and they mean that in the loosest sense possible considering their given professions, kissing would not be considered a comforting touch. Oh, sure, a forehead kiss or a kiss on the top of her head when she's not feeling well is one thing and she kisses his back and his shoulders when he's upset and lavishes his neck with all sorts of lovely kisses when she wants to show affection or when she's looking to distract him. But, a direct kiss on the lips is something else. It is love, passion, and sometimes, even just lust when they're feeling a bit wound up.

But, this is different.

Jake is upset and Cassie's at a loss for what to do and they're holding each other so close and it feels so right. Just a light touch a first, something more than a peck but less than what a want of sex might entail. It feels good, stable, and Lord knows he could use more of that. A little pressure in the small of her back to draw her closer, a silent plea for more, and she indulges him. It's long and deep and tender and maybe, later, when he's feeling better, it'll lead to something more, but for now, this is all he wants. He just wants to know that somebody's there, he wants tactile confirmation that he isn't completely alone in the world.

He just wants to know that Isaac Stone is wrong.

That, he is enough.


End file.
